June 10-17: killdeers fledged out of the onion patch

The killdeers seemed to have hatched and left the nest, at least that's what we hoped happened.  I had estimated their "due date" to be June 9.  There were still 4 eggs on July 8, no sign of them on July 10.  This is the empty nest.  Very weedy since we haven't wanted to disturb them by weeding near their nest.

But this is the weeded onion patch now that we could get near it!

June 27: hello apples, goodbye strawberries

Always love it when the pink bergamot begins to bloom in the herb garden!   It's leaves make a tea that tastes like Earl Grey.   The yellow flowers along the garden path are calendula, whose petals are edible.

I told so many people that I was having trouble finding stevia plants this year that now I have 11!
Thanks friends!


Rich helped me cut down the strawberry plants int he first bed.
We found a total of 2 berries in the whole bed!
 It really was time to say goodbye to strawberry season!



Three new apple trees planted by the campers on Sunday!  The one in the foreground is a Honeycrisp.  The two in the rear are red delicious, which I always reject at the store, but perhaps they will taste better fresh?  Anyway, the trees were donated, and I suspect the campers will love them.

Cauliflower..not too impressive looking, but it's my first ever cauliflower, so I'm proud of it!

Bill did a great job last week weeding.  The garden looks so great this year, since we've kept up with the weeding and roped (actually "stringed") off each bed and wood-chipped the paths.  The dark soil strip is where we just planted our third installment of beans.  Hoping to have a long stretch of beans ripening this summer and fall. 

June 25: strawberry jam class

Had 11 students making strawberry jam on Saturday in the farm kitchen!  

June 24: end of the peas, but here come the beans!

The peas are getting past their prime.  I tried leaving some last week so the summer campers could taste them, but I think it's about time to pull them and plant pole beans.

But the first row of bush beans are flowering so it won't be long before we can eat beans instead of peas!

And a few of the tomato plants already have fruit...and they all have tons of flowers.

June 17. Farm and nature preschoolers in the strawberry patch!

The preschool summer kids came up to the garden and picked strawberries.  Yum!

June 15: everything's growing!

Beds 1 and 2: (from left to right): Pumpkins, winter squash, summer squash, zucchini.

Bed 2 planted 2 weeks after bed. 1, so just now sprouting.

Bed 3:  Cucumbers:  First 3 hills planted first, just about to start climbing.  
Last three hills planted two weeks later.   

Beds 4 and 5: Tomatoes---growing so fast, with basil, parsley, peppers, and eggplants planted alongside.  All doing wonderfully, except the eggplant.

Bed 6: Potatoes
Bed 7: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots

Bed 8: Peas and lettuce
Bed 9: Beans.

Beds 10, 11, and 12:   Chard and beets, corn, garlic, and onions!

June 8: lots of garden work today

Bill Hopkins and I worked today to get some major projects done in the garden. We put up a trellis for the cucumbers:

We built a willow stick teepee around each tomato cage because we've found in past years that our windy hill can topple the tomato cages when they are heavy with foliage and fruit.  

Then we began the project of creating a new entrance for the farm garden. Moving the RR ties and laying down the black plastic. Now need to cover with wood chips.  

A super productive morning!  

June 6: beautiful mints

The mints and chamomile are so beautiful. I'm harvesting and drying the chamomile this week for tea. 

June 4: killdeer update

Mother killdeer no longer leaves the nest when I get near.  Not sure why???  Maybe used to people.  Maybe it's cooler out and so more necessary to stay on nest.  Maybe it has to do with being near hatching?